Melting the Ice
by LayzeeGodzilla
Summary: Violence and fighting doesn't necessary mean that love can't flourish after the fire. But just like smoke after a fire, their innocent love leads a hazy future. Annie X Armin. Includes Annie X Bertholdt in the later chapters. May include spoilers.
1. Chapter 1 : The Spark

_**Hey Everyone!**_

_**I decided to write a complete fanfic after many years of putting it off. I just happen to recently watch Shingeki no Kyojin. Afterwards, Annie X Armin was the first fanfic I read. After reading their fanfics, I decided to ship them. Since there wasn't that many fanfics of them, I decided to contribute to this pairing. SO I hope yuu guys enjoy my first fanfic.**_

_**Disclaimer : Shingeki no Kyojin is not mine =.="**_

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Chapter one : The Spark

Heavy breathing filled the air as he wiped the sweat formed at his forehead. A touch of pink flooded into the cheeks of her stoic face as she watched him brush aside his sun-kissed hair. Without releasing their eye contact, he boldly stepped forward. Again, in a blink of an eye, she had him down on the ground. This time however, he moved his head near hers and whispered huskily in her ears, "Annie . . ."

His unexpected close proximity surprised her. Hearing her name up close from his lips made her flustered. Taking advantage of her temporary lapse, he flipped her over onto her back.

"Annie." He whispered again as he stared into her surprised sapphire eyes. A slight tingle of excitement drifted down his spine at the image of her trapped beneath him. In this position, she looked weak and fragile compared to her usual cold, intimidating aura. His vision became vague and blurry as he breathed heavily against her face. His judgement was cloudy from exhaustion. Unable to fight against his urges, his self control broke as he reached down to trace her face.

Unsure about his sudden actions, Annie laid still and kept her face neutral despite the turmoil within her as his fingers slowly traced down to her jaws. Before he reached her neck she flipped him over and regained her dominance once again.

"Armin. What are you doing?"

Her sudden question snapped him out of his reverie. His face turned red as he realised what he had just done. He stood up immediately in embarrassment and knocked Annie down while he was at it.

"Oh. Sorry Annie." He mumbled. "Here," he said as he held his hand out for her.

She gave him a cold glare before she slapped his hand away and got up by herself.

"Ah. Well...umm...let's stop today's practice here." He stuttered slightly before he turned his back to her and hurried away in the opposite direction.

In the midst of confusion, she watched him disappear as she struggled to process the event that had just occurred. She had felt something strange stir within her heart. Whilst those feelings were still new, they were not unwelcome. She had long gotten use to them appearing before she dismissed them again, and again.

When Armin arrived at his room, he slammed the door and collapsed onto his bed.

"Dammit, " he muttered frustratedly.

~.**********************.~

He knew he was weak. To make up for always relying on Eren and Mikasa, Arim would use his intelligence. However, sometimes he would feel that his portion was not enough to make up for his reliance on his friends. He had always admired their strengths and courage. When he joined the 104th Training Squad, his admirations for his comrades expanded. In particular, Annie Leonhart.

There was just something mysterious that drew him towards her. Despite her cold demeanor, he had seen her rare soft side during his observations. For some strange reason, his eyes were always drawn towards her. Before he knew it, she was always the first person he searched for.

After months of just looking at her from a distance, he finally decided to take action. It's not to say that he hasn't ever spoken to her. It was just that those short greetings were not enough to satisfy him. He decided to create an opportunity to get closer to her and there was no better plan than to fight with her.

Annie had never took interest in anybody. To her the world was dark. She didn't need to get up close and personal with anyone. It was just enough to know briefly everybody's traits , strengths and weaknesses. Her time at the squad was not to play but simply a stepping stone for her mission. She did not have time to spare for relationships. Neither could she risk having feelings for anybody.

She had long emptied her thoughts and facial expressions. In order to survive in this cruel world, she had no choice but to be a lone wolf. It had never occurred in her imagination that she would have anything to do with Armin.

She had never really paid attention to him. Her data on him was also simple. Armin Arlert. 15 years old. 163cm. Intelligent but weak. Top of the 104th Squad in terms of academic but is the weakest in terms of physical strength. Childhood friends with Erem Yeager and Mikasa Ackerman.

When he first approached her to request for private training, she had rejected him coldly. Everyday he would return for the same request. When he saw her, he would acknowledge her presence with a smile or a short greeting. Despite the warm feelings that had spread within her, she would turn away and head for the opposite direction.

Finally her tolerance came to an end. She decided to teach him a lesson to end this once and for all. Like usual, she did not partake during the sparring session. She would walk off and only return when it was over. When Armin saw her, his face beamed as he headed towards her.

"Ann-"

"Arlert ," she cut him off, "Instead of wasting time you should concentrate on training yourself. I will never train you so give it up. I'm warning you. Don't ever ask me again unless you want to get beaten up."

With that she left him there, stunned with what she had just told him.

"WAIT. ANNIE." He yelled as he ran up towards her. "Annie, please," he continued as he reached her side.

She ignored him and walked on. Desperately, he ran up and blocked her way.

"Annie…give me a chance. I want to grow stronger. I'm sick of being weak and needing protection. Please help me...you are the strongest fighter here."

She gave him a deadpan stare and replied tonelessly, "I already warned you. Get out of my way." With that comment she pushed him roughly down to the ground and out of her way.

"Annie…" Armin continued as he got up and tried to block her path.

Again, she knocked him down and continued walking away.

Yet each time Armin would stand up and persist on blocking her. And each time he did, he would be thrown down to the ground again.

She continued to ignore his attempts until her patience ran dry. This time she had to make sure to beat him so he could not stand up again. Even though her style was not to bully the weak; he had left her with no other choice.

Banishing her emotions, she punched him in the face, then proceeded to kneeing him in the stomach. Even though he was in pain, Armin still showed signs of resilience. Despite her discomfort, Annie had no choice but clenched her teeth and prepared to punch him in the stomach until she felt it was enough to stop him from standing back up.

But even after beating him, his determination never faded away. As she began to walk off again, he grabbed her foot in order to hinder her.

"An...nie…" he muttered painfully before passing out.

Even if she pretended to be an ice queen, her heart was fragile. Her crystal ice protection would melt away whenever no one was around her. She bent down and examined him. For someone weak, he had a lot of determination. She gently brushed his fringe away to get a clearer view of his face. Guilt crept in as she saw the damage she had inflicted on his face and body.

Annoying or not, she couldn't just leave him out in the fields. With a sigh, she lifted him up and piggybacked him to his room.

By now, the sky was covered with glittering stars. Everyone was eating their dinner in the dine cabin. This allowed Annie to reach his room without encountering anyone on her way. She stumbled into his room and collapsed onto his bed with him on her back. After taking a break for a couple of minutes, she turned onto the side of the bed to get off his chest.

The shimmering moonlight from the window allowed her to see his innocent unconscious face. She brushed his fringe away with her right hand and let her fingers trailed down from his face to his jaw. She paused and examined the bruise she left near his mouth on his left cheek. With the same hand, she gently brush over the bruise with her thumb.

Thoughtlessly she continued to let her thumb brush against his smooth skin until she realised her thumb had trailed across his soft lips. She flushed slightly as she removed her hands quickly away from his face.

She questioned her increased heart rate only to quickly dismissed the strange thoughts and hurried onto removing his boots. In a flash he was tucked into bed. Before she could decide whether or not she should attend to his injuries and clean up the dry blood, Eren and Mikasa had burst into the room.

The two friends had been worried about Armin's absentee at dinner. Upon seeing Annie, Eren asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Since you guys finally arrived, you can take care of the rest. Armin is injured. Go and fix him up." stated Annie with her stoic face.

Without further notice, Annie swiftly left the room for dinner before anymore questions could be asked.

"Armin!" Eren exclaimed as he saw his injured friend. Misaka, on the other hand, stayed calm even though she was surprised.

When Armin finally woke up, it was morning and his injuries had already been attended to.

"Eh, Eren. What happened?" Armin mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

"That's what I should be asking you." Eren replied. He himself had just gotten up and was changing into his uniform. "Who did this to you?"

Armin sat up painfully and grunted, "It's nothing. Don't worry."

"What do you mean nothing? You know you can tell me anything. Who did this to you? I'll give that bastard a good lesson."

"It's nothing Eren. You don't have to give anyone a lesson."

"Why? Did someone bully you? Wait, was it Annie? She was in your room last night...Was she the one who injured you?!"

"NO! It wasn't her okay? I was just trai...sparing okay? There is nothing for you to worry about. Just leave the topic alone already."

"Fine then." Eren replied with a sigh. If Armin wasn't going to give him the answers then he'll just have to find out what happened from Annie instead.

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_**SO...how was it? Please rate/review :)**_

_**It was pretty fun writing this, even though I had nothing planned out. I'm just writing as I go whilst listening to Shingeki no Kyojin OSTs xD**_

_**BTW new chapters will be uploaded every Sunday ~~~**_

_**Special thanks to my beta : Jessica x3**_


	2. Chapter 2 : Ignition

_**Konnichiwa~~~**_

_**It's been a week! I may have crossed the line a tiny weeny bit in terms of rating at the end, so please forgive me. Also, please give some feedback as to whether yuu want more of it or just a plain no, no. xD**_

_**Also, a big thank you to those who have reviewed. Yuu guys have no idea how exited I was, afterall this is my first fanfic xD**_

_**Anyways enjoy~~~**_

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Chapter Two : Ignition

Several days after the accident, Annie noted that Armin had stopped asking her for help. He still greeted and smiled at her whenever they made eye contact but instead of feeling relief, Annie felt her heart prickle. Maybe it was because she was so used to him coming up to her. After all, the event did drag on for quite some time. It was practically part of her daily routine for Armin come up to her and start a conversation before asking the same question again.

When Eren came up to her to question about the scenario, Annie had dismissed him and feigned innocence by simply replying detachably to all his questions with a; "I don't know." Even the hot-headed Eren simply gave up after facing the indifferent Annie.

By the time she finally got over the strange hollow feelings, Armin reappeared again. Turns out he was only waiting out until the worst of his injuries were better and to lie low from Eren's suspicions.

"Annie." He greeted. "Please. Isn't there a way I can get you to change your mind?"

She ignored both him and the tingling feeling in her heart and continued to walk forward.

"Ann-"

"HAVEN'T YOU LEARNT YOUR LESSON!" She snapped at him uncharacteristically before letting out an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to deal with you...just leave me alone." With that she left the stunned Armin for her room.

In one swift movement, she entered her room and slammed the door. She then leaned her back against the door in resignation. With a defeated sigh, she leaned her head against the wooden door before closing her eyes to calm down and empty her mind of any unnecessary thoughts. Especially those related to a particular weak, blond boy.

There has been something wrong with her lately. She couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting back to Armin. His face would pop up in her mind during random occasions. And when she does think about him, a warm feeling would spread throughout her body. When she saw him, her stomach would do flips or her heart rate would increase slightly.

Despite everything, she kept dismissing these symptoms over and over again. She was still in total denial. There was no way her heart would be moved by that weakling. Yes, that's right. It must be guilt. Her mind would swirl in confusion to the point where she would get a headache if she thought too much into the matter. Sometimes she wondered if they were side effects from her titan power.

It got to the point where her eyes would always follow him. She would unconsciously watch him whenever she saw him. Strangely enough, he seemed to shine and stood out against the rest of the crowd. Without realising it, her attraction to him only increased from watching him.

She found his smiles and laughter endearing, a frown would appear on her stoic face whenever he was injured and his determination never failed to impress her. Before she knew it, she had developed over protective feelings for him.

It started when the Titans had attacked the village nearby. Everyone had splitted up into small groups to take care of the Titans. Along the way, people were bound to be separated or killed and Armin had found himself in that exact position as he unsuccessfully dodged a Titian. He was barely able to get out of the way as a gigantic hand slammed down on top of him. Instead, he was caught up in the impact as he was thrown across the rooftops, before crashing into the red tiles of the roof and falling to the ground. Thankfully it wasn't a long fall down the roof but, his 3D Maneuver Gear had been damaged in process. Unable to activate his weapon, the already powerless boy was forced to make a run for it.

From a distance, Annie noticed him running away from a 7 metre class Titan. Her heart skipped a beat before she launched forward and flew to his direction. With her advance skills, she easily defeated the Titan with a swift but steep slash on its neck.

"Annie! Thank you!" Armin exclaimed with relief.

She gave him a cold shoulder and proceeded to go towards the direction of the incoming Titans. From then on, she would concentrate on protecting him from any possible dangers by eliminating Titans before they could even reach him. Of course her course of actions were subtle. Armin had no idea she was only aiming specifically at the Titans that were heading towards his direction.

The two parties continued to harbour their feelings secretly and watched each other at a distance. Armin had also long given up on his sparring plan after seeing Annie's reaction. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her hate him.

As usual, Annie did not partake in the sparring lesson, however, she did not walk off but simply sat down against a tree by the edge of the field to observe Armin. Her eyes watched with irritation at Armin's uncoordinated and sloppy movements. It's really a wonder how he was able to survive against the titans for so long. Annie doubt he would have made it if it weren't for Eren and Mikasa's protection.

Before she knew it, she was walking across the field to Armin. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw her heading towards his direction.

"Annie." He greeted with a small smile.

"Arlert, has your brain died from doing too much thinking?" She asked tonelessly.

"Eh-"

"Your stance is all wrong. What could your brain be thinking when you throw all those useless punches around? You don't even have the basics down yet and we've been doing this for months now."

Both Armin and his sparring partner, Macro, gaped at her impassive face in surprise. It's probably the first time they've seen her barging into someone's business at her own will.

"Macro, go and spar with someone else at your level. Leave this idiot for me to deal with." She then turned towards Armin and commanded, "Follow me."

They walked into the forest in silence. Annie finally stopped at a clearing and turned around to face him.

"From now on, we are meeting here during sparring session to polish your basics. I am not doing this for you, but for the Squad. The last thing we need is people dying to save you. Now let's start."

"Y...Yes Annie!" Armin stuttered enthusiastically. Never in his dreams did he think that his initial plan would ever occur. Meanwhile, Annie reassured herself that she was just doing all of this to ease the weird feelings she been getting lately.

Although, visually he seemed small, weak and even slightly feminine, there was times when she forgot about those notions. As she trained him, she began to notice his presences when he is near her. He may have appeared to be short when standing next to his friends but he was afterall taller than her. Contradicting her intimidating appearance, she was quite a short person. There was also times when she felt it was difficult to maintain her usual glare when she noticed little details about him.

His eyes may have a similar blue shade like hers, but in the glistening sunshine, a hint of emerald would lurk in his eyes. When he grabbed her hand for a defensive technique, she would note how small her hand seemed to be in his before she quickly retaliated to his attack and flipped him over her shoulders. She also found out that despite his petite appearance, his shoulders was broader than hers. No matter how feminine he seemed, he was still a boy and it was only obvious that he had the potential to be stronger than her with time and the right guidance.

Even though it meant going through pain, Armin found their time together enjoyable. He wouldn't call himself a masochist but currently he had no other options but to feel pain to be with Annie. Plus there was other benefits. Afterall, he was killing two birds with one stone.

Not only did his relationship with Annie open up a bit but it also gave an opportunity for him to become stronger. He loved Annie's strength and all but one day, he would like to hope that he would be the stronger one out of the two.

Each day he looked forward to their private lessons even though they left him physically and mentally exhausted. Afterall, he was a young teenage boy with raging hormones. Even though he doesn't look like he has hit puberty, he still had urges when he was near the girl he loved. Especially when they shared skinship that did not involve her punching or injuring him in some form or another.

They had been training together for quite some time. Along the way, little accidents had occurred between them. Yet each time Armin would apologise instead of gathering up his courage to confess whilst Annie would deny any feelings that was erupted during the sessions.

However, things took a dramatic turn as the forest transitioned into shades of red, orange, yellow and brown instead of green. They were training as usual. Armin had improved but still no where near good yet. As he swung a punch towards her, Annie saw his obvious opening. In flash, she flipped him down on the ground and secured him to the ground with her body.

Armin's body was sprawled against the ground that carpeted with colourful autumn leaves of different shapes and sizes. His sandy hair had created a halo around his bright, innocent face as the sunshine glowed around him. The only sound that could be heard of was the occasional rustling of leaves from the gentle breeze and their laboured breathing.

Their eyes met, crystal blue against sapphire. She noticed his long blond lashes which complimented his large round eyes. Aside from his pudgy nose which she found adorable, his face was perfect and beautiful. Even when he was sweating from exhaustion, it was almost as if he was meant to be an angel.

Likewise, he too was enjoying the view. Sometimes during their session, time would pause. He enjoyed those moments the most. He would take advantage of the moment until she snapped him into reality.

The vibrant colours of the trees in the background, paired with the sunshine settling down on her head, made her look like a goddess. Her silky golden hair had undone itself sometime during the fight. It hung loosely and slightly past her shoulders. Unable to help himself, he reached up and tucked her right fringe behind her ear for a better view.

His actions snapped her out of her trance, however, she maintained her position and aloof expression out of curiosity.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere or the evening sun, but he had lost himself in her sullen eyes, which seemed to call out to him for comfort. Slowly, he let his hand trail down from her ear to her jaw line. Lifting her chin slightly as his own face gradually came closer to her's. They got close to the point where they could feel each other's breath against their lips. Yet during that whole moment, their eyes did not tear away from each others.

Just as Armin almost closed his eyes for the kiss, she turned her face to the left. She concentrated on her self-control to maintain her usual indifference whilst Armin blushed at the rejection. Yet neither spoke nor moved.

It seemed like a million years to Armin before Annie turned her face back and pushed him down again with her hands. She then proceeded to untangle herself and get up but the friction from their movements that had her faltered in bliss as she felt something warm spread across her stomach. She wasn't the only one affected as an involuntary moan escaped his lips when he felt her against his lower region.

Without further notice, Annie stood up and fled the scene. Her heart was racing at an unbearable rate. Whatever the cause was, she did not want to stay any longer to find out.

Armin on the other hand, had turned into a bright, red, cherry tomato. Damn him. Why couldn't he hold it in? He watched her back disappear into the forest of trees before lying back on the ground and to stare absently into the soft pastel colours illuminated from the sunset in the sky.

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_**Ain't they so adorable?! Please rate/review :)**_

_**BTW tell me if yuu guys want this to remain as T-rated, or should I turn up the notch a bit? It's been on my mind, and even if this becomes M-rated, there will be nothing hardcore. Afterall, I want this to be a sweet and innocent love story xD**_

_**So tell me what yuu guys think :)**_

_**Special thanks to my beta : Jessica x3 and Brandon**_


	3. Chapter 3 : The Flare

_**Hey guys!**_

_**If there is any male readers here, heads up cause there's gonna be some awkward stuff installed for yuu. I know it's a subject that's not brought up often, especially in fanfics, but hey, it's more interesting this way. I also took the opportunity to include other characters to jazz things up a little xD**_

_**Anyways, enjoy ~~~**_

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Chapter Three : The Flare

After that eventful day, the two of them had not been able to look at each other in the eye. Shame hung in the air. She would go out of her way to avoid him. Their lessons were mainly focused on training his stamina, strength and self combat movements. Hands-on-hand combat or anything that involved skinship or being too near him was strictly avoided. She kept her distance and dodged all of his attempts of small talks.

Then the day she dreaded the most came. The topic was never seen openly discussed in public, especially in their society. That's right menstruation. A subject which its existence is frequently questioned by women. With majority of the Squad being male, little has been known about the subject amongst these young boys. It's no surprise that these boys were considered to be naive of the matter. Not many understand it well since their time was largely used to deal with Titans rather than girls.

The girls in the squad don't openly complain either. Perhaps its the pride or the embarrassment, but the last thing they needed was to be treated as weak. Of course there were some opened complaints when there was no guys around, in particular from Sasha. However, not much can be done aside from bearing the pain or taking some painkillers from the infirmary.

Each girl had a different reaction to their periods. Some more extreme than others. For instance, Ymir would have to give Krista Lenz more attention than usual since she would often have dizzy spells that may lead to fainting. Annie did not escape from this exception either. Although her's was less severe compared to Historia, it's not to say she didn't suffer either, especially when the weather was cold.

Annie had expected the time of the month to come since her body gave her the heads up. It didn't help that the chef had been serving food with high concentration of salt within the last week. The sodium chloride made her breast extra sensitive. Thanks to the throbbing pain, her glare had been extra prominent than usual. Even her disappearance from lessons became more frequent. She avoided anything that required physical exercise.

The chilly autumn wind didn't help much either. Despite wearing extra layers of clothes under her white hoodie, she could still feel the chills. Being a sensitive person to the cold, this meant (yes disgusting but true) her blood would clot together. As a result, she would have an unbearable stomach pains because her blood could not flow out.

Being the stoic person she was, it was hard to pick up her emotions with the exception of her glare being stronger than usual and the dark aura that was compressed around her. On instinct, the guys would go out of their way to avoid her when they caught sight of her on that frosty morning.

Compared to the other boys, Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover, the boys from the same village as her, were not as intimidated by her. Although they were not close to her due to her anti-social behaviour, they were the people she would often be seen around with, that's if anyone can spot her small stature against the two towering giants.

Annie would never sought their company. The two boys would just naturally find themselves next to Annie. Even though conversations were rarely exchanged between them, there was mutual understanding between them. Perhaps the fact that they shared the same secret allowed them feel more at eased when they were in each other's presence.

The two childhood friends, Reiner and Bertholdt, were often seen together. Reiner was the louder one of the two of them. Despite their silent gathering, if anyone was to speak first out of the three of them, it was Reiner. If it wasn't a conversation with Bertholdt then it would be to criticise or tease Annie. Reiner being the guy he was, would never miss an opportunity to anger Annie and that was just what happened that fateful morning.

Upon seeing her moody face, he bent down as he put an around her shoulder and smirked into her ears, "Well, well, what do we have here? Isn't it too early in the morning for you to be grumpy already?"

A vein popped on her head before she grabbed the heavy arm on her shoulder and twisted it. Reiner let out a yelp as the his smirk disappeared. With a swift movement, Annie kicked his leg and successfully knock him down to the ground before she continued to further twist his arm.

"Stop acting like we're buddies." She hissed in his ears before walking off in (if it was possible) a worse mood than before.

"Sheesh, somebody's having their time of the month." Reiner muttered ironically.

Bertholdt, who had just watched the whole situation on the sidelines just simply 'tsk' inwardly at his friend. The guy just never learns his lessons.

Just as Annie thought her day couldn't get any more worse, it did. Their instructor, Keith Shadis, decided it was time to make Annie understand her place in the Squad.

His unexpected old face blocked her view before he yelled into her face, "LEONHART! THIS ISN'T A PLAYGROUND. YOU'RE EXPECTED TO TRAIN SERIOUSLY HERE. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE ARROGANT JUST BECAUSE YOUR COMBAT SKILLS MAY EXCEL OTHERS. TO MAKE UP FOR ALL THOSE LESSONS YOU SKIPPED, YOU'RE ARE TO DO SITUPS AND PUSHUPS UNTIL YOU'RE ON THE VERGE OF DEATH. UNDERSTOOD SOLDIER?"

Annie swiped the spit that was flung onto her face from his yapping before glaring at his raccoon eyes. "Yes sir." She replied in a monotone before returning to the training taking place. The damn old man just had to choose now out of all times to reinforce her.

Clenching her pain she concentrated on her task. The menstruation pain slowly subsided as her body warmed up from the exercise. She was still out on the fields by herself when the sky turned dark. She was working herself to death alright. Everybody had long gone and ate dinner before getting ready for bed. She had been keeping a pattern by doing 100 pushups, followed by 100 sit ups before repeating the whole process again. As the night got darker, she started to lose count of the numbers of sit ups she had been doing. All her energy was solely focused on forcing her sore muscles to comply to her demands.

Unnoticedly, Armin had been watching her the whole time. The only time he walked away was to grab food for the both of them. He had walked up to her and offered her dinner but she dismissed him by simply continuing with her task. Resignedly, he had placed her food and water next to her before walking away to sit beside a tree out of her view. He continued watching her as he ate his portion of food. The only time she took a rest was to strip the layers of clothing she wore to protect her stomach from the cold.

Armin had swallowed down his saliva as his mouth ran dry at the sight in front of him. Her back was facing him, but the view was still damn good. Her ash blond hair had undone itself and some of it had clinged onto her neck. The moonlight allowed him to see that her singlet was also clinging onto her body. It didn't help that it was a thin, 'white' singlet which left little room for imagination. And it didn't help that her bra was black.

Her sweat highlighted her shoulder and shoulder blade. He had sort of 'embraced' her (more correctly 'tackled' her) during their fights, which gave him an idea of how small and petite but sturdy her body was but today was definitely his lucky day. Without her usual white hoody covering her curves, Armin could finally gaze at the curves of her body.

Of course, the only 'curve' he could usually see was her bottom, since the pants of the uniform was made to wrapped around their legs for easier mobility and comfort. However, today, the combination of her in those tight pants paired with the singlet was enough to give him a nose bleed. A sweat drop caught his sight on her neck. It trailed down her spine, as he imagined his fingers running down her spine. A gulped was made before he physically shook his head to clear his mind of the dirty thoughts to focus on the hardworking Annie.

His blood pressure nearly skyrocketed when she paused from the exercise to open the bottle of water he had left for her. She drank half of it before pouring the rest on her head and face. This was then followed by the cliche head shake. It was only a shame that Armin only had a back view of her. If he was able to see her on the front then his jaws would probably had drop at the dead gorgeous view.

By now, Annie was beyond exhaustion. Her last attempt to clear her hazy vision was when she poured the water on her face. She was only able to painfully do a couple of sit ups before she surrendered herself to the darkness.

Armin saw her collapsed on the ground. He assumed she had finally given up and decided to rest. Ten minutes went by before he stood up from his position and walked towards the unmoving figure. His breath hitched as he laid his eyes at the breathtaking view. He took this rare opportunity to record her unguarded sleeping face.

She looked so fragile and beautiful in his eyes. His face had heated up as he pushed his indecent desires aside and attempted to refrain himself from eye raping her. Sure, he would have loved to take his time to freely let his eyes roam down her body but it felt immoral to do so. A gentleman should never take advantage of a woman when she is defenseless; especially if it's someone who is dear to them.

Giving the respect she deserved, Armin shly covered Annie's exposed body with the jumper she had thrown aside. He then sat down beside her and allowed himself to drouse in her beauty. Her thin eyebrows, long eyelashes, define nose, and pale pink lips looked perfect on her sharp, oval face. In his eyes, she was like a goddess. Her strength and courage drew him in. Yet at the same time, she also seemed so delicate and vulnerable. He sensed that behind her tough facade, there was a depressed girl. He wanted to become strong, not just for himself, but for her. He wanted to be able to conquer her heart and become her shelter. But to be able to protect her, he first needed to be strong enough to face whatever that had dispirited her.

Armin continued to examine her until she moved in her sleep and caused her jumper to slipped off. He blushed again before covering her once more. The goosebumps on her arm caught his eyes. Without hesitation, he took off his jacket and placed it on her. He then absorb the detailed scene of her basking in the moonlight before thinking about how he should bring her to her room.

He could wake Annie up, but he didn't want to disturb her in her deep slumber. Plus, she hasn't been so keen to see him these days; especially after that accident. The thought of carrying her like a princess did came into his mind but he wasn't confident he would last all the way to her room. The last thing he needed was to drop her and make a fool out of himself. Maybe he should leave the idea to when he becomes stronger. He felt ashamed about his inability and noted to himself to train harder.

After some hesitation, Armin decided to leave her be. He laid down beside her and propped himself up on his right elbow to get a better view of her. He lost count of time as he continued to stare at her face with a small smile on his lips. His face mirrored Annie's when a little frown started to form between her eyebrows.

With his left hand, he tucked the strands of hair that had fallen across her face. Her breathing became louder as sweat beads begun to form on her forehead. She moaned unintelligible words. Armin caught a few words here and there but it wasn't enough to allow him figure out what her nightmare was about. The nightmare proceeded to the worst when she started to whimper and scream.

Armin panicked at her painful sounds. It broke his heart to hear her in agony. "ANNIE!" He yelled urgently as he shook her small frame, "WAKE UP!"

She came into reality with a snap as her nightmare advanced to it's peak. Harsh breathing filled the cold air before Armin asked her if she was okay. Tears had formed in her eyes, before she knew it, she had bursted into tears in Armin's arms.

She continued to cry uncharacteristically as Armin attempted to soothed her. He kept whispering words of comfort. His right hand was stroking her head whilst his left hand simultaneously patted her back. She tried to sniffle her sobs by pressing herself deeper into his collarbone. As he felt her tears running down from his neck to his chest, his hold on her tightened.

Still sore from the vigorous exercise, Annie sobs soon died out as she cried herself to sleep in his arms. The last thing on her tired mind was Armin's voice. Armin sighed in relief once she had stopped crying. He gently laid her down but found himself lying with her due to her tight grip on him. He smiled faintly at her childish actions. He wiped away her tears before covering her body with his fallen jacket. He then hugged her tightly as he buried his face into her hair. It'll be troublesome in the morning, but for now, Armin wanted nothing more than to surrender to this taste of happiness. He soon fell asleep to the warmth and sweet vanilla scent that was emitted from Annie.

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_**So...did yuu like my mix of sweet and spice?! ;)**_

_**Please tell me your thoughts and what yuu like to see happen.**_

_**BTW, Merry Christmas everyone ~~~**_

_**Special thanks to my beta : Brandon**_


	4. Chapter 4 : The Heat

_**Ellooo~~~**_

_**I've been busy with work and in all honesty this was done blindly at the last minute. Sorry, I know it's a bit late (by a few hours) from the usual update xD**_

_**Anyways, enjoy ~~~**_

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Chapter Four : The Heat

She snuggled towards the warmth. Satisfied with her new position, she sighed in contentment. Her ears twitched as they heard the voices of a choir of birds. It's already morning she thought but made no movements to wake up until another sound caught her attention. Still keeping her eyes closed she concentrated on the new sound. There was a soft trace of snoring in the tone. Someone or something was sleeping and it was real close to her since she could feel their breath on her forehead. She frown as she slowly opened her eyes, only to squint her eyes because of the glaring sun. The sunbeam assisted on blurring the face of the person next to her. She closed her eyes before her nose sniffed a familiar scent. If she recalled correctly, she only smelted this scent when she was training in the woods with Armin. Wait Armin!

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up to looked at the body lying next to her. After she confirmed his sleeping face, she let her emotions steep to her face. She slightly blushed when she realised his arms was tightly wrapped around her waist. Her blush deepened further when she realised she was only wearing her singlet if it wasn't for the jacket covering her. The cool morning breeze didn't help either. It made her want to jump back into Armin's embrace. Before her thoughts could run off further, she quickly, but quietly, removed herself from Armin's grasp. She then bristly dressed herself and made sure she looked presentable. She gave Armin's sleeping face a last glance before hurrying towards her room.

Unknown to Annie, Armin had been awake the whole time. He had woke up before her and enjoyed the view of her sleeping in his arms. When he felt her stirred, he had quickly closed his eyes and foreign sleep. Unsure about her reaction, he allowed his fears to make the decision of feigning sleep. He felt the cold replace her as soon as she escaped his clutch and removed his arms from around her waist. It was only until he heard her footsteps at a distance did he open his eyes to watch her back disappeared behind the Autumn trees.

It didn't help that Annie's roommate was no one other than the 104th Squad's best trainee, Mikasa Ackerman. Whilst Mikasa could always be seen with Armin and Eren, it didn't mean she would be sociable with other people outside her circle. This suited Annie just fine. There was no need to put up with useless conversations. Although there was a rivalry tension between them, she was glad that Mikasa out of all people was her roommate. It would have been hell if Sasha was her roommate. If it weren't for the food she stuffed up her mouth, that girl simply talked too much for her own good.

As of lately, Annie had found it more uncomfortable to be around Mikasa than before. The thought that she was someone close to Armin had made Annie feel slightly frustrated. She wasn't sure of the reason but she concluded that anyone associated to the annoying brat must be pretty irritating as well, otherwise they wouldn't be able to stand him. She was only training him for the sake of appeasing the uneasiness she had whenever she saw him.

Annie had arrived to her room without encountering anybody on her way. It was still too early in the morning for anyone to be awake. She quietly crept into her room to avoid waking up Mikasa and grabbed her change of clothes before heading to the bathroom for a shower. She wanted to wash away all the shame and weakness that she had shown infront of Armin away with the dirt and sweat from yesterday's training. She was still too weak. She needed to train harder and be stronger to be able to tuck away all her emotions behind a cold, crystal ice mask.

It was a familiar nightmare. One about her dark past. Like any other day, the nightmare would slightly change and alter itself. However, yesterday, the nightmare had gone out of her control. She had let the stupid dream take over her emotions and showed Armin her weak side. It embarrassed her to no end that she had cried in Armin's arms. Speaking of Armin, she had slept in his embrace. A blush spread across her cheeks as she remembered the broadness and warmth. Shaking the thought away, Annie was determined to not let the accident happen ever again. The nightmare only further serve as a reminder of who she was; a monster. She had no right to think of forming a relationship with any human. No. It was the humans who would die by her hands. The hands that have been long soaked in blood of all sorts of human; man, woman, child, innocent or corrupted, all of them had been dead because of the mission given to her. She closed her eyes, there was no turning back now.

Mikasa had woken up when Annie returned to their room but she pretended otherwise and returned to sleep when the girl went to the bathroom. She knew something had been going on between Armin and Annie. Mikasa wasn't at the top of the Squad for no reason. Sure when it came down to intelligence, Armin was better but it didn't mean she wasn't smart either. She had noticed Armin's glances towards the stoic girl whilst Eren was ignorant about it. Eren, who was too caught up in his passion, was unable to notice anything else unless they were brought up to him. Nevertheless, she loved that about him.

Even though she was annoyed that Armin had asked Annie for training, she kept quiet about it. She had advised Armin it was a bad idea but the boy was determined. When Armin had passed out in blood and bruises, Mikasa was furious with Annie. She understood the girl wanted no part in Armin's request but she crossed the line there. Mikasa had planned to give Annie a mouthful when she returned to their room however, she had noticed Annie's frustrated and distaughted face when she slammed open the bathroom door. The face was quickly shifted to her usual stoic face when she saw Mikasa. After seeing Annie's face, Mikasa decided to cast aside her earlier intention and let the two of them deal with their own business. She concluded that it would be was best if she watched and support Armin from afar with his newfound affection for this messed up girl. She of all people understood what it was like to have an unrequited love.

She had gave a small smile when she saw Annie finally accepted to training Armin. Despite being against their relationship, she knew it was not her place to disrupt them. Armin was her precious brother and friend and, she wanted nothing else than to see him happy. If Armin could like her, then surely Annie must not be too bad of a person if she took the opportunity to know her better. She'll just have to get over Annie's rough way of handling both her precious boys. Afterall, Annie was also teaching Eren a few moves on the sideline.

At dinner yesterday, Armin had excused himself with food for two in his hands. Before the oblivious Eren could barge Armin with questions, she had tactfully steered him away and gave Armin a knowing nod. Armin had slightly blush before he left them two with apologies. She didn't mind if Armin would become busy with his love. The good kid deserves to have a chance and it would be interesting relationship to watch. All the while, she could have more time with Eren to herself. Even though it was not romantic between them, being with Eren was more than enough to make Mikasa happy.

When Eren had been worried about Armin whereabouts late last night, Mikasa had calmed him down and told him about his training sessions with Annie. The news immediately brought him peace as Annie had gained his trust and respect. After Eren fell asleep, Mikasa had tucked him into bed and gave a rare genuine smile at the childish boy she loved before returning to her room. She was slightly worried that both of them had not returned to their respective rooms and decided to do a check up on them. She was surprised when she came upon the scene of Annie crying into Armin's arms. Not wanting to be rude, she left them to their own privacy after confirming their well being.

The usual pattern was repeated again that morning. Annie had avoided Armin again. It made yesterday seemed like a dream. Everyone set with their respective social circle at breakfast. In Annie's case, she sat at an empty table and was later accompanied by Reiner and Bertholdt. Annie ate in silence whilst Reiner had a one sided conversation with Bertholdt. The only sign of Bertholdt participating in the conversation was his occasional nods.

"Oi Bertholdt! Stop staring at Annie. Don't you know it's rude not to look at the person talking to you!" Reiner complained.

"I'm n-not looking at her!" Bertholdt finally spoke as a tinge of pink materialised on his cheeks.

The two boys looked up at Annie as stood up and walked off with her empty plate. Bertholdt couldn't help but be bothered at Annie's reaction to their conversation. Damn Reiner, him and his mouth. Even if he never challenged his Reiner's actions and decisions, it wouldn't hurt if the guy could have a gift for reading between the lines.

After breakfast, her body decided to remind her that she was menstruating with cramps again. Nothing was betrayed behind her impassive mask aside from the fierceness in her eyes. Annie sigh inwardly; it'll be another long and tiring day. Not to mention there was another Titan attack. As usual, she ditched her group to fight the Titans like a lone wolf. It was not her style to attack in coordinate groups; she prefered the freedom and independence of fighting alone. Besides, the other trainees would only be in her way. It was less of hassle for her to handle the Titans by herself. Unlike the other Squad members, she had personal training on dealing with Titans before she entered the Squad.

She swiftly recoiled off a nearby wall with her 3D Maneuver Gear and cleanly sliced through the nape of another smiling Titan. Her adrenaline raced in her veins as she felt elated from slaying the Titans. She always found it thrilling to kill Titans. It was the only time where her mind would become blank and free. She slaughtered Titans mindlessly. Her body had instinctively known how to kill them with minimal effort and time. She had welcomed the Titans. Thanks to them, she could finally release her stress and stop thinking of a certain blond brat.

Before she knew it, she had entered an area filled with Titans of different classes and size. She continued to eliminate them on her skills and reflexes. Reiner and Bertholdt had been doing a good job themselves in an area near her. They had kept out of her way but remained at a distance where they could still keep an eye out for her. Reiner led them to the area knowing it would keep his friend at peace. Even though Bertholdt never voiced out his opinion, Reiner knew Annie would always be on the back of his mind.

Annie had single handedly exterminated a numerous amount of Titans by herself. It was quite a feat and one that she would never had done to keep her profile low however, she had long lost her mind in the midst of the battle. To avoid thinking of Armin, she had gone on a blind killing spree. Even though it was a storm of violence, the skills she used was an art in itself. Her fighting style was like a dance. She was swift and cold in her massacre yet she remained graceful and elegant. It was a horrible yet beautiful scene at the same time. Like a goddess of war, she danced through the crowd of ugly giants and painted the town in bloody red.

During the turmoil, Annie had forgotten about her limited gas supply. It wasn't till her gas ran out that she was brought back to reality. She cursed at her own stupidity and proceeded to make her way out of the area. If only she could shift into her Titan form right now, she could defeat them with no problem. She quickly made her way out of the area by avoiding the Titans. Soon her luck ran out. She had managed to get cornered by three Titans. It didn't help that one of them was a deviant type of Titan. The abnormal Titan had been on her tail since the start. She cursed herself again for not killing it sooner.

Bertholdt had seen Annie run away instead of using her 3D Maneuver Gear. A frown appeared on his usually expressionless face. "Reiner." He alerted his partner before he dashed off to Annie's direction. Reiner knew it meant something serious had occurred if his mute like friend had called out his name in the heat of a battle. He hastily finished the Titan he was dealing with and rushed off after his friend.

Annie gathered all her resource available. She took in her surroundings and analysed how she could maneuver around the weakest Titan out of the three and kill it with her Gear's blades. Within seconds, a plan formed around her mind and she took action immediately. It wouldn't be the first time she had ever taken out a Titan without using the grapple-hooks to help alleviate herself. Unfortunately, as soon as she executed her plan and killed the Titan, the abnormal Titan had took her off guard. It's attack was too fast for her to dodge. It swung it's arm across and slammed her through three buildings. Annie coughed up blood but thanks to her Titan ability, she was able to ease the damage on her body. However with the battle in the open, it was hard for her to activate her full potential.

The deviant Titan continued to attack her. She barely avoided it's first attack only to be hit by the next. It also took all of her strength to control her power. With the amount of blood leaking out of her, it was amazing that she had not transformed yet. Then again, technically speaking, as a female, she had to go through special training to control her powers. Since females menstruated every month, it was important for them to control their willpower and emotions within the week they bled.

She closed her eyes as she saw another attack coming. Her body was drained of blood and she started to feel dizzy. She had a choice, transform or die. Maybe it was better to die, that way she wouldn't have to live in guilt and conflict. Her slow decision making gave her no choice but to brace for the next attack. To her surprise the attack never came. She opened her eyes but her vision was blurred.

"ANNIE!" a male voice yelled out.

"Armin?" She thought. She rubbed her eyes and was disappointed to see Bertholdt rushing towards her as the abnormal crashed to the ground. The disappointment was quickly replaced by shock. She was baffled that the first person she thought of was Armin. Who was he to save her? For all she knew, him being there would only bring more trouble for her. Relief that she was no longer alone, Annie immediately collapsed and was caught by Bertholdt.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

She grunted in return. Over his shoulder, she saw the third Titan heading towards them. The Titan was quickly killed by Reiner before he appeared by their side. If Reiner and Bertholdt was here then she knew she was in good hands. Even if she hated to admit it, these boys were stronger than her.

"I need to rest a bit," she muttered before she passed out in Bertholdt's arms. The last thing on her wary mind was the difference between the embraces of Bertholdt's and Armin's.

Bertholdt had lifted carried Annie like a child in one arm whilst the other was used to activate the Maneuver Gear to get them to a safer place. Reiner would kill any Titan that got in their way. Along the way, Armin had spotted them. Upon seeing Annie covered in blood, his face paled. He immediately rushed over to them.

"ANNIE!" Armin yelled. The boys stopped moving as Armin approached them. "Is Annie alright? What happened? Is she still alive?"

"Woah, woah, calm down kid," replied Reiner, "One question at a time. She's still alive, just injured. Her gas ran out."

Normally, Reiner would have taken care of Armin, who was like a weak, little brother to him. However with Annie bleeding so much, he couldn't risk it if Armin witness her transform. Discarding his over protectiveness for the boy, he told him coldly, "Now hurry up back to your group if you don't wanna get killed. We already have our hands full with Annie. No one has time to babysit you."

Reiner comment stung Armin. He gave a slight nod in shame at his weak inability. As the two boys moved on, Armin stood there watching their backs become gradually smaller. He could see her ash blond hair that had came undone flying against the wind. His hands clenched into a fist. If only he was strong enough. He was angry at himself and jealous of Bertholdt. It could have been his arms instead of Bertholdt but it was just not impossible. He knew he was useless in his current physical state. It was just like what Reiner said, he would only be in their way. He continued to watch them and hoped that the sting in his chest would disappear as well when they disappeared from his sight.

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_**Gomen-nasai! I know many of yuu were looking towards the fluff but this chapter just somehow ended up with more point of views from different characters than I intended. It's also longer than usual. However, this chapter was essential to introduce a new rival. No love story is complete without a love triangle ;)**_

_**After some research, I also find it hard not to ship Annie and Bertholdt. Heh, I'm the kind of person who sometimes ship multiply pairings even though they may include the same characters xD**_

_**Anyways, please review ~~~**_

_**P.S. Have a Happy New Year!**_

_**Special thanks to my beta : Brandon**_


	5. Chapter 5 : Simmering

_**Hi Everyone ~~~**_

_**I had a really bad case of writer's block so this ended up all done at the super-duper last minute. Nevertheless, I hope yuu guys enjoy it xD**_

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Chapter Five : Simmering

The aftermath of the Titan attacks always resulted in many casualties. The Titans were defeated but the 104th Trainee Squad had also suffered great loss. Armin had been so busy taking care of the injured and dead that he had no time to check up on Annie. He had pushed her back behind his head and concentrated on his task at hand. The cleanup task was not an enjoyable one. They had to check and record the amount of damage that was done. Not to mention they had to remove the corpses before an epidemic broke out. The worst part of the job was finding unrecognisable bits and pieces of their teammates randomly tossed onto the ground. It was a horrific experience for those who happened to recognise a dead person. However, that wasn't the worst of it. Titans devoured humans mindlessly only to throw them up once their stomachs are full to make room more humans. They don't require any substance from humans therefore the reason their peculiar behaviour is yet to be known. The human bodies are regurgitated into a crystallised ball. This crystallisation prevented scientists from looking further into the Titan's mechanism.

With her Titan power, Annie was able to quickly recover with just a night's sleep. After the clean up, they had returned to their usual routine. It was as if nothing happened between them. Armin had mixed feelings about it. For one he was glad that Annie no longer avoided him and they had return to hand to hand combat. Yet, he couldn't help but be slightly bothered that everything was the same when so many things happened between them. Perhaps it was because deep down he had hoped that they had become a little bit closer.

Annie had found herself pretty occupied with the boys. There was the training session for Armin, and martial arts lesson for Eren. She also spent silent time with the boys from her village like usual, but lately she noticed that Bertholdt was by her side more than normal. Before she knew it, she would find herself accompanied by him. It was fine that way. She didn't mind it since they just stayed by each other's side in silent since it was only Bertholdt. If it had been Reiner then it would have been a different story.

Armin's heart had churned when he saw how often they were together. It would take him back to the day he helplessly watched Bertholdt carried her protectively in his arms. Ever since that day, he had been putting in extra effort towards training himself. Whenever he had time, he would exercise. This included his important reading time. Eren had been surprised when he first walked into the room to find Armin holding a book with one hand and a dumbbell in the other. Then other various positions followed up such as reading whilst doing pushups or placing a book on the chair to read whilst doing situps. At the beginning, Eren was weirded out; couldn't the boy just do one thing done at a time? However after growing accustomed to it, he stopped commenting on the strange exercises and left his friend to concentrate on multitasking.

During their training, Annie had noticed Armin's gaze on her had slightly changed. She couldn't put her finger on it but there seemed to be a trace of sadness his cerulean eyes. She felt strangely irritated at this notion. This made her enhance his intense training and become more strict with him. Especially since he seemed to be more tired from training than usual.

Meanwhile, while Armin was having a physically hard time, it was no coincidence that Bertholdt had been around Annie more than normal. He had seen Annie training Armin. At first it was nothing. He had only been slightly envious of Armin. If Bertholdt had been weaker, than maybe he too could have had lessons with her. However physically, he was stronger than her, even though he never won any fights with her. He had never wanted to fight with her, but occasionally in the past, Reiner would encourage him to teach her a lesson and before he could reject his friend's idea, the ground would had greeted him.

To be honest, he actually pitied Armin more than envied him. Annie would be the last person he wanted to be hit by. However, ever since that day, Armin's feelings had became clear to him. He had been satisfied with keeping his feelings to himself since Annie had closed herself off from everyone. It had never occurred to him that someone else could steal away his unrequited love. Thus Armin was the first person he ever felt threatened by.

As a quiet observer, he had noticed a change in the air between the two. It didn't help that he was weak-willed. He wasn't as courageous as Reiner. But Reiner was a different story. If Reiner had ever told Berthodt that he held feelings for Annie then he would had back away since Reiner was more than capable enough to take care of her. He knew she would be good hands if it was Reiner, but Armin?! No. It did not make sense that the midget would even stand a chance yet he continued to defy nature.

It angered him that someone like Armin could take his Annie away. He knew her secrets. They shared the same secret and he knews that her icy facade were only there to protect herself. If anyone was to take care of her, it should be either Reiner or him. He knew he only had himself to blame for being a coward. It was his only one of his many flaws which prevented him from having confidence in attaining her love. He had a huge complex about his height. It really didn't help that he was pretty much about 40cm taller than her. The brat maybe short but at least the distance between their height wasn't as dramatic his and hers. It sometimes annoyed him that they had similar characteristics such as their golden hair, cobalt eyes and small body frame. Armin's small figure could often be mistaken as a girl in the distance. Why did he grow his hair long anyways? There was no way he would lose to a feminine guy like Armin.

With no good tactic in mind, Bertholdt settled for just being physically closer to Annie. He had no courage to start a conversation and to be perfectly honest, he enjoyed watching her so much that he often forgot about his initial intentions. He would just observe her silently. It seemed that she didn't mind his silent company either and so nothing was really progressing on his side either.

Neverless time had flew by, they were all going to graduate soon. Armin had put his feelings aside and concentrated solely on training. He felt that he should not act upon those feelings again until he became a worthy man for Annie. With this goal in mind, he used his determination to put himself into an intense workout everyday. Sure enough he soon climbed up the ladder. He was easily able to surpass all the average trainees by graduation. However, he was unable to overstep the exceptionally gifted people like his best friends. Overall, he had earned respect from Annie for his willpower and hard work.

Bertholdt, on the other hand, gradually became a talkative company with Annie. Although they never had long conversations, they would occasionally exchange words with each other. Sometimes it annoyed Reiner when they shared a knowing smile at each other. He couldn't help but feel in the dark on their little secret, especially when it involved him losing to Annie in some sort of form or another.

Annie had found Bertholdt's voice soothing and peaceful, especially his genuine smiles when it was just the two of them. It surprised her that she could grow fond of the big guy. It was so weird to think back and remember that when they first met each other at the village. He had been so shy, hiding behind father. Back then he already shown signs of being taller than the boys around his age. She giggled when she remembered how Reiner used to be jealous of his height since he was the one older than them by one year. They were so innocent and naive back then. Who would had thought their own fathers would use them, their own children, and turned them into weapons.

"Annie." Bertholdt spoked to her gently as he shook her awake from her daydream. One second she had a smile followed by a rare giggle and the next second she looked angry, sad, and well just broken hearted. It scared him whenever he thought she would finally crumble and break. They had to stay strong. At least until they had enough power to finally break free.

"I was just thinking about our past." She replied softly. Her eyes was still somewhere else. A moment passed by before she returned and looked at his worried face and gave a small smile, "I have to go now, see you later."

Like always, he would watch her back as she left. He couldn't remember how many times he has seen it, whether it was in his dreams or in reality.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest, Armin had arrived earlier than Annie to warm up. He collapsed onto the cold ground after overdoing it. The season had changed so fast. It was only Autumn when they first started their sessions but now winter has gone by and spring was coming along with their graduation. There was still little bits of snow that was need to melt before all signs of winter disappeared. Armin laid down on his back and looked at the sky's view. There was tree branches with little green buds sprouting out lying against the sky. Watching the nature reminded him of how his own love first sprouted.

Armin had known who Annie was but the only thing that made her stand out from the other girls was her scary facial expression and strong fighting skills. He had never really fully paid attention since he was so busy trying to catch up to everyone in classes that required physical strength. It was thanks to that fateful day when Eren got pulled into Reiner's idiocy that he begun to notice her. Reiner's plan to teach Annie a lesson resulted in both of them being cleanly finished off by Annie. At that time, Armin had been worried about his friend, but the same time, the whole scenario was just too hilarious. His curiosity for the girl shortly began to grow. He would wonder where she went when she skipped lessons, how did she become strong, why was she so closed off, why didn't she smile, and would she ever train him like she did for Eren? These questions would come and go and before he knew it, his eyes could find her position in the midst of a crowd. It was only when he notice this that he finally realised he had fallen for her mysterious charms.

He couldn't wait to become stronger. He knew he had to be patient. Despite all the sore pain and muscles, and training until exhaustion, there was moments which encouraged him to keep going. When he was tired, he would find a small box of energy drinks outside his room. Sometimes it was ointment, other times it was heat packs or bandages. At first he wanted to thank his mysterious doctor but one day he noticed the same brand of heat packs drop out of Annie's pocket during their hand to hand battle. It had distracted him and he had received a massive bruise on his head for it. Despite that, he had ginned crazily all day long and earned a few raised eyebrows from his mates.

Armin immediately broke out of his reminiscence and stood up as his ears picked up footsteps. He recognised her approaching footsteps. Even though he vowed to get stronger first, he couldn't help but look forward to their private time together. He greeted her with a smile as her face came into view. She only nodded her head in acknowledgement but her face was still expressionless. She continued to walk in her usual pace until she reached the clearing of the forest where he was. As soon as she stepped into the area, she charged towards him as they begun their training battle.

Spring arrived faster than had Armin wanted. He wanted to stop the time but it was impossible. Their last training session had passed by and they were all proceeding to graduate. It was a fine sunny day. Everything went by in a blur. The top ten graduates were announced and he had been so proud of Eren, Mikasa and Annie. He was only slightly disappointed at himself but who was he to think that he would be in the top ten after a few months of training. It sadden him to think that he would always need the protection of his two best friends. No. It was different now. He had been training himself and he will continue to do so and become stronger otherwise the day when he could confess his love to Annie would never come.

Their time was done at the 104th Trainee Squad and now they were to choose their future paths. Armin knew all along that he would join the Survey Corps with Eren and Mikasa. Despite his fears of Titans, he had shared a common childhood dream with Eren and that was to venture outside of the Wall Maria. It was his biggest dream to explore the outside world that he could only read in books as a child. It would be dangerous but the thought of seeing the beauty of nature hidden from beyond the Wall was far too thrilling to give up over fear.

Armin wondered where Annie would go after graduation but his thoughts were cut off when he heard an announcement. There was another Titan attack. It would be the last time the 104th Trainee Squad would be able to fight together as a team. They've only just graduated, but the Squad wasted no time and quickly headed towards to Trost District for the battle. Little did Armin know, it would be the battle that would reveal Eren's secret ability.

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_**Yeah I know, there's a few time skips in this chapter but that's only cause I wanna move on to when Annie acts as a Titan. So tell me what yuu think about this chapter with a review~~~**_

_**Special thanks to my beta : Brandon**_


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